Archive for June, 2010

I am a 36 year old male and have struggled with mild to moderate amblyopia most of my life. I am able to fuse close up and have very good hand eye coordination but at distance, such as driving, I am unable to fuse and the resulting strain  worsens the eye turn. Is vision therapy still a viable option at my age?

This is an impossible question to answer without the benefit for a full, thorough vision exam. This would show the cause and severity of the amblyopia, eye turn,  and other visual problems that you may have and identify areas of possible improvement.

But even without the particulars in your case, I can say a few things generally. Because the purpose of vision therapy is to help you develop visual skills that may be lacking, there is not point in life when it is not possible to receive some benefit from vision therapy. The real question is this: Are you bothered enough by your visual problem that you would like to take the steps to improve the situation. (Case in point, this video of a 101 year old vision therapy patient.)

But I don’t want to paint vision therapy as a panacea either, because some conditions are very complicated and can take a significant amount of time, effort, and expense to improve. Some conditions are best treated with a combination of vision therapy and other methods, such as special glasses or surgery. Yet other conditions are better left untreated.

I would recommend against any of the “improve your vision” ads on TV or the internet. Many of these have elements of legitimate therapy, but they tend to over-promise and do not match the person with the appropriate therapy. Instead, only pursue therapy from a doctor with specialized training in visual function and vision therapy.

Have you read Susan Barry’s book, “Fixing My Gaze“? I very highly recommend it. You may also find this blog interesting: http://seeing3d.blogspot.com/.

If you would like more information about the evaluation or vision therapy, please do not hesitate to call and speak to Edna or myself.

Best Wishes.

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

UPDATE: Bright Eyes is happy to be giving away two $100 gift certificates at the Social Media Day Meetup! It is the least we can do to support this great event and Tampa Bay Tech! There are tons of other great door prizes also, including food, concert tickets, and more! So come on down!

If you haven’t heard yet, this Wednesday night will be the biggest social media event in Tamp Bay since Foursquare Day. The event was conceived by Mashable as a means to get together and celebrate Social Media. It is called Social Media Day, and there are over 100 people planning to attend the local event! In fact, Tampa currently has the 14th largest gathering of the 550 in the world according Mashable’s Meetup Everywhere page.

The Social Media Day locally is being organized by Jordan Leonard and Kyle Williams. It is being held at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company at 6pm on Wednesday 6/30. You can find out more details about the event, as well as RSVP and catch up on the pre-event conversation here. When making plans, don’t forget to use the hashtag #TMMUP.

The local success of this event is just more evidence that Tampa Bay has a vibrant and growing tech scene. We at Bright Eyes are so excited about it, we are closing early this Wednesday to take part. So if you see me and the Bright Eyes staff be sure to say hello!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

At Bright Eyes, we try to stay current in the opportunities given to our patients. As contact lens companies go, it’s usually in the form of rebates and annual supply savings. Recently however, one company has gone above and beyond the product savings to offer an opportunity in an activity many of us and our kids participate in but usually don’t associate with wearing contacts: athletics. Contact lenses are a necessary piece of “equipment” in many athletes’ gear bags. Because glasses are cumbersome and can even be dangerous in certain sports, contacts are a comfortable and healthy alternative that give athletes a crisp and complete field of vision.

CooperVision, a company that manufactures, among others, the Proclear, Biofinity, Biomedics, and Frequency line of contacts, is holding a contest in which it will award ten prizes of $2,500 to athletic teams, athletes, or even community sporting organizations. They want to make sure teams and individuals have the proper “gear” to help them compete. Plus any member of the team who currently wears contacts or glasses will also have the chance to be fitted with CooperVision contact lenses for an entire year.

To enter you must complete the online form and create a short video or series of photos introducing your team and why you think you should win. What could you use the grant for? Whatever you think your team needs to succeed: new jerseys or uniforms, new equipment, transportation funds to your next away game.  You must hurry though, because the deadline to submit is June 25th.

Visit the link below for additional information and to submit your video and application.

http://www.mycontactsports.com/

All the best,

Justin Schoonover

If you take a look at the June issue of World of Westchase, on page 22, you’ll find a feature story on Dr. Nate. The article discusses his involvement with social media, Foursquare Day, as well as Dr. Nate’s passion for children’s vision. The article refers to him as an optician. Although Dr. Nate is an optometrist, he is actually a certified optician, too. Click here to find out the difference.

If you do not have copy of WOW handy, you can also read the article online titled as  A Social Media Visionary (PDF, pg 4).

Thanks, WOW!

Connect:

As patients of Bright Eyes Family Vision Care know, I am interested in new and interesting ways to connect. For example, I was one of the first in the Tampa Bay area to use foursquare and had a blast taking it to new heights with Foursquare Day.

Well, thanks to this story in Mashable, I have found something really cool that I want to share: Empire Avenue. The concept is super simple: buy and sell stock in people and websites. Then apply common sense. Buy low, sell high, and go for long-term rewards in the form of dividends. And it is FREE.

For example, one of my favorite Tampa bloggers is Miss Destructo. Minutes after she joined (Ticker: MSDSTO), I bought two hundred shares of her at 10.00 virtual credits per share. Not less than 24 hours later, her stock is currently at 17.95! I expect it will climb even higher after she attends the Mashable Media Summit this week in NYC so get some shares at bargain prices while you can!

If you’d like to invest in some virtual shares of your favorite optometry practice, Bright Eyes was able to score the ticker symbol EYES. You can also buy stock in Dr. Nate (ticker: NATEBW). Since Empire Avenue is in beta, you need an invitation. Just email me at doc@brighteyestampa.com if you’d like one. And then let me know when you join, so I can buy stock in you!

Have fun!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

Blog verification:

EAVB_VUNAIDIIJO

Not every patient  is featured on the patient spotlight. But sometimes during an exam, I will find out something about a patient that I think is exceptionally interesting. This Patient Spotlight is about something that many of us remember fondly as kids, but maybe haven’t thought about much recently: radio controlled car racing. Enter Paul Roberts, driver for Max Velocity  Racing, international RC racing champion. – Dr. Nate

Dr. Nate: Thanks for being a Patient Spotlight. How did you get into RC racing?

Paul: I have been interested in RC (radio controlled) cars since I was a kid but only until I saw a race event did I get interested in racing.   I was amazed at the speed of the cars and how precise the drivers were able to control them around turns.  You could feel the excitement and adrenaline watching the cars maneuver and battle for position.  Being a mechanical engineer, I was also interested in the technology that allowed the cars to perform at such a high level.  After talking with a few of the racers I decided to purchase a car and give racing a try.


Tell me a little about your class…

The class is called 1/8 Scale GT.  The cars are relatively big compared to other cars in the sport.  The engines run on nitro-methane which is a highly volatile fuel that gives the engines such high performance. Cars can achieve speeds in excess of 75mph.  These high speeds translate into visually dynamic turning and great crashes.  The cars are required to have bodies that look like street legal sports cars which is one of the big reasons the class has received so much positive attention. The cars really look like scaled down Ferrari, Corvette, and Lamborghini sports cars.


How competitive is your class?

The class is very competitive due to the rules that are intended to make the cars as equal as possible (similar to stock car racing).  This puts the focus on driving as the largest contributing factor in winning a race.  Often 45 min races will come down to a couple seconds separating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. There are frequent battles for position throughout the race that get oooohs and ahhhs from the on looking crowd.


To what do you attribute your success last year?

I would attribute my success at the 2010 GT World Championships to 4 things: calm driving, meticulous car maintenance, a good pit person, and luck.  When driving with good drivers you are controlling your car at high speed within inches of other cars and barriers.   In a 45 min race it is important to stay focused and avoid getting fatigued or riled up if you make a mistake or somebody hits you.  You need to let it go and focus on the next turn.   Some racers will make a mistake and get mad about it and it makes them make another mistake and then it snowballs and they defeat themselves.  Staying calm and focused after a mistake is a big part of a good consistent driver.

Having your car as close to mechanically perfect is very important.  The cars are very rugged but over time parts wear out, screws get loose, and parts break.  It is important before the big race to meticulously go through the car from bumper to bumper checking and double checking parts and systems for wear or breakage.  It can mean the difference between winning and not finishing the race.

Having a good pit person is always a good thing.  The final races last 30-60 minutes and the cars only run 7 min on one tank of fuel.  Your pit person re-fuels the car during the race and will make slight modifications to your car if necessary to optimize its performance.  It’s always good to have a pit person that knows the car and is quick with the fuel to minimize your pit time.

Luck plays a role in the race because other drivers make mistakes too and crashes result.  You don’t always know when crashes will happen and you are lucky to avoid a crash if it happens in front of you.  If you do get in a crash you are lucky if you don’t break something.  In the World Championship Race I ended the race with two crucial screws backed out 75% and one tire that was about to fail.  Not to mention my engine broke in the last 30 seconds of the race (luckily I was 4 laps ahead and nobody could make up 4 laps in 30sec).  Luck plays a role but the better you master the first three points the less luck will influence your outcome.

What are your future goals with RC racing?

My future goals are to keep improving my driving, have fun, and promote the sport. I have only been in this for a little under 2 years so I know I have more to learn in the driving realm. The secret to keeping it fun is staying positive and not get bummed out if you break and lose a race. As far as promoting the sport I think it is great for kids and adults. It’s a great outdoor activity that teaches mechanical ingenuity, auto racing concepts, and sportsmanship. Races are frequently held on the weekends at Lakes Park so if anyone is interested in seeing a race or would like more info come check us out.

Thanks, Paul. Good luck in your many future races!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

Watch a a video of Max Velocity Racing in action:

Click here if video doesn’t play.

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